So in one week it seems as if France has jumped from able-to-see-your-breath-it's-so-cold winter to +20 ° celcius summer. I unwittingly spent yesterday in three-quarter leggings and as a result have a very defined tan-line about mild-calf. Will be spending today outside in bicycle shorts to remedy said situation. But I digress. On to more important issues!!
The biggest recent event in my life is that I have switched houses, and am now installed in my third (and last) family. The date of the change wasn't confirmed until about a week ago, and so I wasn't given a whole lot of time to mentally prepare for it, let alone physically!! (Meaning: procrastinating until the morning of the move to pack.) It was hard for me to "let go" of the last house; the three months I spent there were fun and they went by so so fast, I never considered the proposition of leaving until it was practically dancing naked in front of my nose.
But once I had come to grips with it, the excitement set in fast. The thrill and challenge of moving and integrating myself into a new family never gets old! My family consists of Frederic and Anne-Katherine, who are my dad- and mom-figures. I also have a host-sister, Hortense, who is in the same niveau at school as me. And then there's Pilou, the cat, and Lazzie, the pony. In the almost-24-hours I've been here I've attended my host-parents' cocktail party and I've been to the stables my host-mom and sisters ride at to meet their pony and eat lunch with the other riders.
Can I even begin to express how pumped I am about living with a cat in the house again? Let me just say that I miss my cat Rocco to DEATH, just seeing Pilou walk around the house makes me want to explode in joy, and if this exchange has taught me anything it is that, if I live to be old, I am destined to be The Cat-Lady.
Other than that: Sun. I'm going tanning.
Sunday, 25 March 2012
Tuesday, 20 March 2012
The world is mud-luscious and puddle-wonderful. ~E. E. Cummings
There are robins hopping about in the garden and daffodils in the vase on the kitchen table. Happy 1st Day of Spring, everyone!! It's the time of year that makes me feel like I can't breath deeply enough, as well as super-guilty about being on the internet while the sun shines outside. According to the International Astonomical Union, I have officially experienced every season of the year while in France.
To celebrate, I have documented in list-form some of the best things I have discovered in this country inside of the four seasons I have spent here:
50 Things That Are Awesome About France
(in order of which they pop into my head)
1. Cappuccinos from the coffee machine at school
2. The shower at the Gonzalez's house
3. Cobblestone streets (but only when I'm not in heels)
4. Boys who wear pants that ACTUALLY FIT
5. The aisle at Leclair dedicated entirely to dark chocolate
6. Le Bois Butte
7. White cows
8. The ocean being 1 hour away
9. Les soldes in February
10. The artist's square in Paris
11. French fashion
12. Oral comprehension tests in English class
13. Festive baguettes still hot from the boulangerie
14. Bakeries distributed as densely as Starbucks in Vancouver
15. Randomly celebrating with ice creams at Le Pole Nord
16. Discovering great foriegn music
17. The Golden Tree in the Valley of No Return
18. Castles by the sea
19. Riding the Tibus on a sunny day through the countryside
20. Talking about someone right beside me because they can't understand in English
21. The bluntness of the French
22. Renewed appreciation for the English Language
23. Exchanging sketchbooks with classmates at lunchtime
24. Chocolate and pistachio macarons
25. Bike rides through town
26. The castle on a hill in Lehon
27. Receiving allowance at the beginning of the month
28. That hot chocolate in St Malo
29. Horse-back riding on Sunday mornings
30. The Christmas market in Nantes
31. The Red Light District in Paris
32. Active druidism
33. 3-hour art class on Thursdays
34. Access to all the coffee I want. Anytime. Always.
35. Live music in the restaurants
36. My classy, faux-diamond-studded Eiffel Tower lighter (before anyone comments, I do not smoke. It was just pretty.)
37. The last 5 minutes of school on Friday
38. Small dogs in bicycle baskets
39. French-style high heel shoes
40. Listening to my class speak English
41. L'assiette gourmande with an espresso
42. Watching the Eiffel Tower light up from over the Seine
43. The view of the river from the English Garden
44. Adopting trendy French expressions
45. Pimkie, the clothing store
46. Elle and Marie Claire magazine, french edition
47. Sour fruit-flavored Carambars
48. Les creperies bretonnes
49. The display window at La Fee Cabosse
Having saved the best for last, my absolute favorite thing about being in France as an Exchange Student is:
50. Other Exchange Students
To celebrate, I have documented in list-form some of the best things I have discovered in this country inside of the four seasons I have spent here:
50 Things That Are Awesome About France
(in order of which they pop into my head)
1. Cappuccinos from the coffee machine at school
2. The shower at the Gonzalez's house
3. Cobblestone streets (but only when I'm not in heels)
4. Boys who wear pants that ACTUALLY FIT
5. The aisle at Leclair dedicated entirely to dark chocolate
6. Le Bois Butte
7. White cows
8. The ocean being 1 hour away
9. Les soldes in February
10. The artist's square in Paris
11. French fashion
12. Oral comprehension tests in English class
13. Festive baguettes still hot from the boulangerie
14. Bakeries distributed as densely as Starbucks in Vancouver
15. Randomly celebrating with ice creams at Le Pole Nord
16. Discovering great foriegn music
17. The Golden Tree in the Valley of No Return
18. Castles by the sea
19. Riding the Tibus on a sunny day through the countryside
20. Talking about someone right beside me because they can't understand in English
21. The bluntness of the French
22. Renewed appreciation for the English Language
23. Exchanging sketchbooks with classmates at lunchtime
24. Chocolate and pistachio macarons
25. Bike rides through town
26. The castle on a hill in Lehon
27. Receiving allowance at the beginning of the month
28. That hot chocolate in St Malo
29. Horse-back riding on Sunday mornings
30. The Christmas market in Nantes
31. The Red Light District in Paris
32. Active druidism
33. 3-hour art class on Thursdays
34. Access to all the coffee I want. Anytime. Always.
35. Live music in the restaurants
36. My classy, faux-diamond-studded Eiffel Tower lighter (before anyone comments, I do not smoke. It was just pretty.)
37. The last 5 minutes of school on Friday
38. Small dogs in bicycle baskets
39. French-style high heel shoes
40. Listening to my class speak English
41. L'assiette gourmande with an espresso
42. Watching the Eiffel Tower light up from over the Seine
43. The view of the river from the English Garden
44. Adopting trendy French expressions
45. Pimkie, the clothing store
46. Elle and Marie Claire magazine, french edition
47. Sour fruit-flavored Carambars
48. Les creperies bretonnes
49. The display window at La Fee Cabosse
Having saved the best for last, my absolute favorite thing about being in France as an Exchange Student is:
50. Other Exchange Students
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